Musical Soulmates: How Buckingham Nicks Shaped Fleetwood Mac

Graphic: Grace Abdayem

After decades of a love that withstood the trials and tribulations of drugs, infidelity, and rock 'n' roll, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham are back with the re-release of their one and only duo album, Buckingham Nicks. Refurbishing Lindsey’s gliding folk sound and Stevie’s hypnotizing rasp, this album was originally released about fifty-two years ago, in 1973, alongside the electrifyingly influential albums, Houses of The Holy and Dark Side of The Moon. Though they emerged at the peak of the classic rock era, the duo still made a name for themselves. Buckingham Nicks holds a magnifying glass to their infamous relationship, revealing the infatuation, innocence, and respect they once had for one another. 

Residing in the sweet sunshine of the West Coast Bay Area, the two met during their high school days. A young romance began when Stevie and Lindsey met at a Young Life meeting—a Christian club for adolescents to socialize and learn about faith—and predictably played a spontaneous duet of “California Dreamin.” It was no doubt that the two artists shared the same passion, and created a magnetic force relentlessly pulling each other in. They moved as a pair through different bands during their college years, trying to find other musicians who could keep up with their heady pace. In the late sixties, they landed on the band Fritz. This collaboration was all business, as Stevie told Rolling Stone in 1977, “I think there was always something between me and Lindsey, but nobody in that band [Fritz] really wanted me as their girlfriend because I was just too ambitious for them […]” Nicks and Buckingham stayed with Fritz for about three and a half years until the band started breaking at the seams. The pair took this as an invitation to create their own sound—even if strings were attached. 

Buckingham Nicks 1973

The album, which is under the two musicians’ names, is rich with alluring melodies, teasing lyrics, and a soon-to-be staple sound of Buckingham/Nicks as they find their way to Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham Nicks, at its core, is a folk rock album with energetic guitar riffs and melodic rhythms coupled with a lyrical depth. Nicks’ voice soars, elevating the progressive nature of the album further. Nicks’ tone, while unique, manages to perfectly blend into a wide range of styles, from the soft love ballad of “Stephanie” to the upbeat tempo of “Long Distance Winner.” The two lovers’ musicality fit like a glove, giving listeners a polished collection of songs written and composed by them both. Through their writing, they offer introspective topics—love, loss, and fighting with personal identity. 

The fourth track of the album, “Crystal,” is a love letter from Stevie to Lindsey. In later years, the song was transformed and remastered to be featured on both Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled album in 1975 as well as in Nicks’ solo career. Stevie, being known for catalyzing an air of mystery in both her personal life and musical career, is vulnerable in this tune. In the 1973 version, she sings with Buckingham, “I turned around and the water was closing all around/Like a glove, like the love that had finally, finally found me.” A lasting love was hard to find for Stevie, but now she writes that it has enclosed her in a warm embrace. It is a sweet ballad through which she can express the weightless love she has for her musical partner. 

Lindsey and Stevie eventually left their duo act to be a part of something bigger.

Lindsey was originally asked by Mick Fleetwood, founder and drummer of the iconic band, to join, and he would; the only stipulation being that Stevie follow his lead. This was the start of the better-known lineup of Fleetwood Mac in the mid-70s into the 80s—Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, and Christine and John McVie. Their first album with this crew, in 1975, was a major success. It found its way to number one on the Billboard 200, and stayed in the top 40 for 15 months, fostering hits like “Rhiannon” and “Say You Love Me.” Even though the album was a smash hit for the band as a whole, it was the first time Stevie and Lindsey gained a significant amount of gratifying recognition. 

Fleetwood Mac Tusk photoshoot 1978

The rise to fame was all they have wished for, yet the pressure of their popularity began to crack Lindsey and Stevie’s relationship. Lines blurred between their personal and work lives, and the monster of addiction became a priority for both, creating a toxic arrangement for the couple. They ended their relationship in 1976. From Nicks’ perspective about their detachment, she shared with Woman’s Own, “Everything about me seemed to bug him. My laughter, the way I could deal with a lot of difficult things, all made him want to cringe. So I changed when I was around him.” A woman of pure ambition at the peak of her career battling pressures made the day-to-day of their relationship difficult. They chose to stay in Fleetwood Mac as they were vital to the group’s success. 

Rumours was released in 1977. Being the core songwriters of the band, the two laid their relationship all out on the table—vulgar thoughts from Lindsey took hold in “Second Hand News,” and Stevie writes her lyrics with a tinge of mockery in “Gold Dust Woman” when she asks, “Did she shatter your illusions of love?” The vulnerability the two were forced to come to terms with made for a violently raw album which has now become the staple of Fleetwood Mac’s discography. The competition they formed against each other toward the end of their relationship seeped into their music, creating a hostile environment for the whole band. Still, in spite of this, it made their success. Rolling Stone included Rumours at number seven in their “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” Fleetwood Mac’s identity invented itself through the tumultuous relationship between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

When the album toured, the performers cultivated an unmatched adrenaline and passion fueling Lindsey’s wailing guitar and Stevie’s uncontrollable twirls. They got lost in it. The tension between the two on stage could be cut by a knife. Fleetwood Mac’s documentary Tusk, capturing their 1980 tour, featured a vibrant live performance of “The Chain,” where they were still challenging each other some three years after their relationship ended. At the climax of the song, their vocals get more aggressive and their eyes grow larger as they stare into one another. Singing a song about how they are eternally tied to each other no matter what, this performance played out like a battle to see who would surrender first. That is, essentially, what their relationship dissolved into throughout Fleetwood Mac’s history. 

Through the 1980s, various members of the band quit, rejoined, quit again, and disassembled the band. Their personal and love lives were now branded into the rhythm of the music, and they were unable to escape. In 1994 Stevie told The Island Ear that, “Currently, Lindsey and I have no relationship. …Basically, I think Lindsey and I had sung our last song.” Stevie Nicks went on to pursue a solo career that has awarded her a spot in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Rumours, the band rekindled in 1997 for an iconic performance at Warner Bros. Studios for their live album, The Dance. The performance of “Silver Springs,” a song written by Stevie that did not make it on the original release of Rumours, is a timeless one. Twenty years after the falling out, Nicks still managed to defy the laws of time and bring the couple back to who they were in the 70s—if they even ever left. As she sang, “I’ll follow you down ‘till the sound of my voice will haunt you,” she let go of him. Incubating all they have gone through, you could hear the sadness in her voice. It was not a fight anymore, it was a remembrance. Stevie Nicks once said, in Mademoiselle, “We tangle a lot, but we love each other—we’ll always love each other. He and I will never get away from the fact that we were as one for so many years.” 

Steve Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham The Dance tour 1997

Nicks released a solo version of “Crystal,” for the soundtrack of the film Practically Magic. Remastering of this song at a point when they did not have contact with each other, acts as an homage and a conclusion to the past history of their relationship. It was a song written by a young girl who felt that unique connection for the first time, and discovered a sense of security. Now that she and Lindsey are grown, she is able to reconcile the thought that that relationship was not everything—the music was. The re-release of Buckingham Nicks is a look back at the two’s humble beginnings in the face of new love, success, and a choice they were forced to make that would define their entire career.